Control of Land, Labour and Infrastructure
At the structural level Israeli policy was formulated in the early years
of occupation (l967-68), and continues to operate along these lines until
today.20 It rests on a system of formal and informal control whose main
features are
- The physical control of land and water resources through a tight system
of regional zoning and restriction of Arab building and water drilling permits
- The integration of the Palestinian water, electrical and road network
within the Israeli grid, thus making the Palestinian infrastructure dependent
on Israeli services
- Absorbing unskilled Arab labour into the Israeli economy, most notably
in construction and services
- The subordination of the occupied territories' economy as a tariff-free
market for Israeli commodities, without extending the same benefits to goods
produced in the West Bank and Gaza in the Israeli market.21
The net effect of these features has been to render sources of livelihood
and services in Palestinian society dependent on Israel, and consequently,
to make it virtually impossible for any future political arrangement to
evolve in the direction of separating the two entities from each other.
Thus, a system of structural integration has emerged, supported by political
control and increased pressure for land confiscation and the building of
Jewish settlements. Those pressures created the main conditions which triggered
the popular uprising in December of 1987, and have continued during the
period covering the present survey.
|
